Page 3 - Ecclesiology revised short_Neat

Ecclesiology

Kris Bjorgen, Ed.D.

Chapter 1: Before the Church Began

Connect…

Have you ever read about the church in the Old Testament? Maybe the tabernacle was the church in
the Old Testament. The Mosaic law of the sacrifices and the various feasts are difficult to fit into what
we know as the church in the New Testament. If you traveled back in time to meet the prophet Isaiah
and had a little talk, and if you asked him about the church, he probably would look at you as if you were
crazy! He would not know what you are talking about. Today, we want to start our study of the church
by looking at the church from the vantage point of the Old Testament prophets and characters. Were
they looking forward to this new model for worship and fellowship? Let’s find out….

Objectives…

1. The student should be able to describe how both Israel and the church are “called out” from the
world to represent God to the nations.

2. The student should be able explain that the promises made to Israel will be literally fulfilled and
cannot be transferred to the church.

3. The student should be able describe the birth of the church in the New Testament as predicted by
Jesus Christ Himself.

4. The student should be able state the unique promises made to the church made by Jesus Christ
during the Olivet Discourse.

The Lesson ...

The Old Testament era

Before Pentecost and the initiation of a New Covenant, the concept of the church was a
mystery. But in the Old Testament, the idea of a special called out group of people is
clearly revealed. In Lev. 4:13, Moses wrote, “And if the whole congregation of Israel sin
through ignorance, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly…” The Hebrew
word for assembly means to “call” or “assemble” or “a gathering of people.” It is an

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